REP. RANGEL CRITICIZES BUSH ‘05 BUDGET AS “ONE OF THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE BUDGETS IN AMERICAN HISTORY”

For Immediate Release:

February 2, 2004

Contact:Dan Maffei or Jennifer Whitson 202/225-4021

This indeed is Groundhog Day. The Bush Administration is once again proposing more tax breaks for the rich just as they did last year and the year before. Instead of getting a budget that acknowledges that, in time of war, there is a need for shared sacrifice, we are repeating the same day over and over again even though tax cuts for the wealthy have not led to more jobs, improved schools, helped the uninsured get health care, or made the country safer.

Pretty pictures and colorful charts cannot hide the fact that this is one of the most irresponsible budgets in American history. This budget has nothing to do with managing taxpayer dollars and a lot to do with appeasing right-wing conservatives that contribute to President Bush’s re-election campaign. The price of these tax cuts will be paid by our children and grandchildren who are left behind in this budget. They are the ones who often do not have decent schools or small class sizes. And yet they will have to pay back the trillions of dollars in debt that Bush’s tax cut and war in Iraq have created.

The Bush Administration is showing a complete lack of leadership. The President says in his State of the Union address, “I know that some people question if America is really in a war at all.” But it is HIS budget that shows a denial that we are at war. While the Administration finds room for more defense spending and for starting a plan to go to Mars, it requires no sacrifice from the nation’s wealthiest. In fact, while our brave soldiers leave their jobs and families and risk their lives in a war to rid Iraq of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, the richest in our country are showered with more tax cuts.

Only an out of touch President would continue to push tax breaks for companies that more American jobs overseas while doing little to address the record 2.6 million manufacturing jobs lost during his Administration. And only an Administration desperate to cover up its mistakes would brag about cutting a deficit “in half” when his irresponsible leadership has already made it double its high during the Reagan Administration.